How Deep Is Your Love

Chapter Twenty-Three

When the Snow Queen and Bo Peep arrived outside of the ice cavern, Ingrid stopped and turned to the other woman as she spoke up saying, "Let me ask you something. Are you absolutely certain you want to do this? I warn you, I don't take kindly to being threatened for any reason."

Peep smiled as she answered, "I'm not afraid of you. So save your threats and let's talk. I am ready to get my personal property back. Just don't try anything, or you will never see your mirror again."

"Very well," Ingrid replied calmly and continued to walk inside, followed closely by the warlord.

However, as soon as she entered, Bo Peep stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing the Snow Queen's magic mirror still in its place, partially covered by a tarp and perfectly safe, while the two men who worked for her as her brutes laid dead upon the ground, appearing to have killed each other with their own weapons.

"What the devil is this?" Storybrooke's butcher asked angrily as she spun around and glared at the woman with magic. "Why are my men dead? What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything to them," the real villain responded callously while she pulled the large covering away and stood directly in front of the looking glass in order to keep Peep from being overcome by its power like her men had. "Your men killed each other. It's the power of my mirror. It forces all who look into it to see and become their worst selves should they stare into it for too long. All except for me, as I'm already my worst self. I have been for quite some time now. Your thugs broke in and attempted to steal what was mine. They got what they deserved. It's a pity they weren't faster in covering it up. They might have stood a chance. Be thankful of course that you weren't here with them."

All of a sudden, Ingrid quickly waved her hand as ice formed up to the other woman's chest, freezing her in place while Bo cried out, "What are you doing? We had a deal!"

The Snow Queen turned back to the mirror to look in on the heroes as she answered quietly, "We did have a deal. But that was when you had the advantage over me. But seeing as you tried to blackmail me without knowing for sure you actually had the upper hand, I would like to propose a new deal."

"I don't… understand," Peep curtly retorted, trying to speak through the cold. "I thought you did… didn't need a partner. Why would you want… want to work with me… now?"

"Perhaps you might be of some use to me after all," she replied, then slowly began to walk around the other woman. "I will get your crook back for you and have it delivered to you when finished. But in exchange, I need you to return the pirate's hook to him while he's still unconscious. I planned to do it myself, but something of greater importance has just come to my attention."

Ingrid picked up the piece of metal as she reached out to place her hand against the glass of her mirror, suddenly casting some kind of enchantment over it and then added, "I suggest you be careful not to get yourself caught. However, should you fail at that as well, I warn you not to tell them of the spell. If you do, I will not be so lenient the next time I see. Do you understand?"

The warlord glared at the Snow Queen as she responded, "Yes. I understand… that you can kill me with… out having to be standing in front of me. Just un… unfreeze me."

"Very good," Ingrid stated finally and handed Killian's hook over to her after she melted the ice.

"How do I know that you will keep up your end of our deal?" Bo asked while she struggled to warm herself up by wrapping her arms around herself.

The younger woman answered coolly, "I give you my word that I will return your crook to you. Whether you trust me or not is up to you."

Bo Peep sighed, then nodded and replied, "It appears I don't have much of a choice then. If I refuse, I have a feeling you'll just kill me where I'm stand… standing."

"Then we have an understanding," the Snow Queen responded. "Good luck."

"The same to you," the other woman retorted cynically. "Oh, and as for my men's bodies, it's probably best you take care of them yourself. I can't exactly drag them through the woods now, can I?"

As Bo Peep left her cavern with the pirate's hook in her hands, Ingrid smiled and then turned back to her mirror as she watched while Emma, David, and a few others make their way through the woods in search for her. She didn't need to hear their conversation as they spoke amongst themselves to know that the former Evil Queen had placed a locating spell on something else of the pirate's to lead them to his hook, and therefore to her. It was why Ingrid had quickly cast her spell, then handed it off to the warlord, knowing that she would be caught with it instead and arrested.

It didn't matter if the heroes discovered where she was hiding later on once her plan was further along, but now was too soon. Bo Peep being the first to find her turned out to become fortuitous at the right moment. She would be punished for her attempt to entrap her and Killian's hook along with the curse now on it would be returned to him. With any luck, her plan to make him give up his pursuit of Emma would succeed and Storybrooke would soon say goodbye to Captain Hook.